This invention relates to a machine for automatically making fortune cookies. Heretofor fortune cookies have been made either manually or on semi-automatic equipment which requires the constant attention of one or more attendants. These rather primative techniques for making fortune cookies obviously adversely affect their cost. In accordance with the present invention a machine is provided which wholly automatically makes fortune cookies.
The invention includes a first turret assembly that has a number of separate griddles which are moved step by step in a circular path through several stations. As the griddles move on the turret, they are opened for cleaning and filling, and are closed for baking the cookie blanks. At one station along the path, the opened griddles are cleaned, at another station the griddles are oiled, and at yet another station the cookie batter is poured into the griddles. Thereafter the griddles close, and as they move step by step on the turret they pass through an oven where the cookie blanks are baked. After the baking is completed and while the cookie blanks are still soft and pliable, they are stripped from the griddle and transferred to a stuffing and forming assembly. In the stuffing and forming assembly, a paper slip carrying the fortune message is placed on each blank and subsequently the cookie blank with the slip is folded in half and then folded a second time, and it is finally puckered or crimped to produce the final shape for the fortune cookie. As a last step in the process, the fully formed fortune cookies are stripped from the stuffing and forming assembly. All of these steps are carried out fully automatically, without any special attention or manipulation on the part of an operator.
This invention will be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description read in connection with the accompanying drawings.